Love Me Leave Me
by NekoLen
Summary: Phantom had run from Caldera just a few weeks ago... And now he was laying low in an inn. There he makes friendships that stay strong for years and a new love. But when the promise of eternity comes, will he choose a happy life with Alma?
1. Lost In Torment

Hi, I'm back! And this time I'm writing a straight pairing! A few people are looking for a website where you can watch MAR episodes. I swear by one website that has episodes 1-83 (in Japanese but is English subtitled) and they upload more episodes every couple of months. I've finally seen Nanashi vs. Peta (hints of PetaXPha-ness!) and Phantom's past! The website is animecrazy(dot)net.

I wrote this story at least 3 times so it could be my best - I don't know why, but after 'Trust Me' I expect better from me.

Chapter One: Lost in Torment

Phantom sprawled out on his back, staring unseeing up at the cobweb ceiling. He knew he was supposed to be deep asleep by now, but he just couldn't fall asleep - not now, not when only a couple of days ago he had run from Caldera with 285 ARMs. The adrenalin was still pumping in his system as he lay in an inn called 'The Cheerful Monk' in the middle of a small town called Vestry. Diana - the beautiful woman that had rescued him from his cell - had departed that afternoon. She told him to lay low and build up his strength until she contacted him again. She then gave him several ARMs and disappeared with the rest of them.

It was nearly Dawn; the crickets were chirping their goodbyes and various other night-sounds were fading away. He listened to the fading noise and felt relief. Something had changed inside of him. Ten years ago he had loved the sound of Night-time as he fell asleep, now it just made him feel sick and reminded him of the eternal Night of the prison. As he thought of this hot sick boiled in his throat and hate pulsated through his veins. It wasn't fair.

Phantom screwed his eyes up as the now familiar feeling of resentment took control of his body. Ever since being locked in prison he detested everything. The birds, the trees, the plants, the flowers and most of all... the humans. He became restless again as the scorching need of vengeance consumed him. Now he sat, panting hard. He just wanted to hurt something. He just wanted to hurt something. He wanted to stab, torture, rip apart, break bones, slice into flesh, dismember and kill.

"Patience," Diana had told him that morning when he had voiced his feelings. "You'll be able to do all that and more. You just need to wait until things die down."

Phantom snorted as he stood to cross the confined room to look into the mirror. He stared upon the horrific face in front of him. He still didn't recognise it as himself. He had aged since the last time he had looked at his reflection. His purple eyes were dull and sunken into shadowy sockets. His silvery hair was dirty, overgrown, messy and knotted. He used to look young and gorgeous; now he just looked like a waxy-skinned corpse. It wasn't fair. He was put in prison because his parents loved him too much to kill him. All because They didn't understand the Orb.

"I will make them pay!" he cried at his reflection, trying to see the innocent boy he once was. Impossible, all he saw was a portrait of torment and agony.

With that thought, Phantom went back to his bed, knelt and searched under it. He pulled out a large chest. When opened, an ominous purple glow lit up the room. The warmth from the glow made his resentment drain away. He smiled.

"You are angry... Am I correct?" the cold echoing voice of the Orb asked.

"It's unfair," Phantom replied. He placed his bony hands on the polished surface of the Orb, caressing the cool unyielding stone.

"Life is unfair. That is why you make it fair."

Phantom agreed. His heart was racing as he felt the Orb's power course through his fingers.

"Will you teach me?"

"Only if you obey my every command," the Orb replied after a moment's pause. Phantom nodded.

"I will," he agreed eagerly, "Anything to make them pay."

-

It was a golden morning. Phantom scuttled downstairs to the tavern, still wide awake even though he hadn't slept once during the night. He was slightly surprised to see that the tavern was already crowded, even though it was early in the morning. The only reason he had come down here was because he wasn't used to the freedom. He wove his way through the crowd of drunken sailors and lone cloaked travellers to the bar. He sat down on a rusty barstool and ordered the only drink that he could remember. It was the kind of wine that his mother preferred.

He took a sip of the warm fruity drink and was comfortable slightly. It suppressed his feelings of wrath and vengeance, but it sharpened the dull pain in his heart. He suffered from insomnia and depression ever since his parents' deaths and he kept seeing the mangled corpses of his parents hanging from the ceiling. He saw his mother's blank lifeless eyes staring through him... He shuddered, gulping a mouthful of drink. He willed the pain to be washed away. As he glanced around the room, he noticed a tall, thin guy wearing a dress and a pointy hat standing near the far wall watching him. He stared back at the freak for a few minutes then turned away, not bothering to care. 'If he wants to stare, let him. He will never know who I am or what I'm about to become,' he thought, ordering another drink.

He looked around once more, his eyes falling on a beautiful waitress. She lightly walked amongst the tables taking orders and delivering the drinks on a tray to the men. She may have been a merchant sailor, or the daughter of one - Phantom wasn't sure - and she had long turquoise hair. He watched her as he sipped his drink. He had been locked away from human contact for ten years since he was a child. He had forgotten love or kindness. All he knew was hate and a pitch black darkness that became his very essence. When Diana saved him from prison, he was bewitched by her beauty. After so long in a damp dark grey cell he had forgotten what beauty was. But Diana was only beauty and his promise of revenge. This girl was something else. He liked watching her. It made him feel good.

He ordered another drink, feeling tipsy now. He smirked to himself, deciding that if she should come near him he would ask her to join him. He thought the gesture was ridiculous. A corpse-like ex-inmate asking a beautiful (and probably rich) girl if she'd like a drink with him? He'd most likely have more success with the creep in the dress.

That's when he noticed some rowdy hairy sailor groping the girl. She was trying to stop him, but no one else seemed to care. He felt enraged. How dare he treat the pretty girl like that!

Without thinking, probably because of all the alcohol in his system, he stood to his feet and rushed straight to the guy. In one movement, he pulled the girl off him and punched him square in the face. The bar suddenly fell into silence; every pair of eyes seemed to be on him.

The guy he had punched stood up, looming like a boulder over him and crackling his knuckles menacingly. He drew up his fist and hit Phantom back hard.

Phantom flew backwards as if hit by a bus. Little stars danced before his eyes as blood flooded from his broken nose. He blinked the pain away and found himself lying on his back in the middle of the room, even thought he couldn't remember being put there. He staggered to his feet, holding his head. He glanced blearily around, but before he could get his bearings the man kicked his chin. He fell back, dazed. Before he blacked out he saw the girl run out of the inn and he knew she would be safe. 


	2. A Friend Emerges

**Sorry it's taken so long to write and post this story. I've been lacking motivation and been busy - now working full-time and have no internet. I've been thinking about doing a journalism course... We'll see how it goes.**

Chapter 2: A Friend Emerges

He was stumbling down a long dark hallway. He passed many closed doors on his way, but he wasn't interested by what was behind them. He wanted to know where the hallway finished. He turned around a corner and froze. Two silhouetted bodies hung from the ceiling, swinging slightly. The gentle creaking of the rafters being stroked by the rope sung of death and chilled his spine. He gazed up at his parent's faces...

Phantom woke with a start; cold sweat clinging at his body and damp sheets twisting around him. He sat up, his head spinning and threw up over himself. Collapsing on his back, he tried to focus his sight.

Through his blurry eyes he realised he wasn't lying neither on his own bed nor on the bar floor. Out of the corner of his eye he saw movement and a blotchy figure came into view. He felt a cool cloth wipe away his vomit. He let himself be unclothed and wiped down with water that cleansed his dirty body and sinful thoughts. He murmured something that even he didn't hear. He felt like an innocent child again.

Once again he tried to sit up, but whoever it was that was now wiping away the sweat on his brow pushed him back down with a firm, but feminine hand. He let himself be tucked into the warm blankets, liking how childish he felt. He closed his eyes. He was ten again and his mother was humming a lullaby as she tucked him into bed. All hate and vengeance drained from his body.

"Mummy," he muttered.

"You need to rest your head," a deep voice said. Phantom started and opened his eyes. He saw the white painted ceiling speckled with black fly dirt. He moved his head to the side and stared up at the wide grin of the freak in the dress from the bar. He snapped up the blankets around his bare chest. A guy had stripped him naked?

"Calm down or you'll be sick again," the man said with a grin.

"Why... Who are you?" Phantom demanded, hiding his emaciated body from the man and blushing scarlet.

"My name is Peta. I am at your service," the man replied calmly in his deep voice, bowing low. Phantom regarded the man with suspicion clouding his hate-filled eyes. They met Peta's grey ones and they stayed like that for several minutes.

"You're at my service?" Phantom questioned, blinking hard. "Does that mean you want to be my servant?"

"If that is what you want to call it," Peta replied, "I will be as useful as I can."

"Like how?"

"I could give you advice."

"Advice huh?" Phantom scratched his chin, thinking long and hard. It sounded to him that Peta wanted to be his friend. Never before had he had a friend. Even before prison he was a lonely child. But with this... Peta on his side he could become more powerful. Yes... with followers he could create an unstoppable army for his revenge against MARHeaven.

For he blamed the people of MARHeaven for killing his parents.

Thanks to the brainwashing words of Diana and the Orb, Phantom believed it was everyone else's fault. The people of MARHeaven had betrayed him when his parents killed themselves and he was left to rot in prison as a frightened ten-year-old. He tried to remember how he had come to this conclusion, but all that was left was anger, sorrow hate and overwhelming vengeance.

Thinking of the Orb in tis box under his bed, he said, "Let me think about it."

"That's fine," Peta answered somewhat disappointedly.

"What am I doing naked in your room?" Phantom ordered, feeling violated.

"You were unconscious, so I brought you up here and then you were sick, so I took your soiled garments off to be cleaned."

"Why did you bring me up here anyway? I mean, you could've left me downstairs... I'm a powerful witch, I can fend for myself!" Phantom sneered at the seemingly weak mortal that stood before him, rage awakening once more in his mind. How dare this stranger even touch him, let alone strip him?

"When I stood in the bar, I sensed your amazing levels of magical power," Peta started, bowing again. "I hate humans. I want to deal my vengeance to them with a crushing blow... But to do that, I need a partner; a strong leader to direct and bring about my plans..."

"I said, I'd think about it," he snapped at him, annoyed at the man's continued persistence. He was sounding too desperate. ⌠I need clothes," he added. Peta was frowning, but he bowed low anyway and left the room, closing the door with a soft click.

Phantom surveyed the room. If this was Peta's room he had either just moved in or had no belongings, because the room was empty. He sat up, letting the blankets fall from his pale emaciated chest and stared down at ti in disgust. He ran his bony finger down it, wincing every time he felt his ribs through his skin. He began day dreaming about what he would've looked like if he hadn't been locked away.

He was gazing vacantly into space stroking his chest when Peta arrived back. He froze at the door and watched Phantom for a while before clearing his throat in a bemused way. Phantom started and once again whipped the blankets up around his chest, blushing furiously.

"Sorry, was I interrupting something?" Peta questioned, failing to mask the laughter in his voice. Phantom glared at him.

"How long were you there?" he snapped in a voice that wiped the grin of Peta's face.

"Not that long," he replied slyly, "You know, you're very skinny. A guy like you taking on Jumbo the muscular He-man with a weapon or even an ARM?" He tutted in disbelief and shook his head. Phantom, whose pride had been bruised already, didn't need this bug-eyed man hurting it further. Making a mental note to never get drunk again, he snarled at the man.

"Did I ask for your opinion? Where are my clothes?"

Peta threw a few items at the disgruntled man. He turned his back and folded his arms smugly; giving Phantom some privacy as he struggled into the oversized clothes.

The pair of baggy dark blue pants was far too long in the legs for him, so he rolled up the bottoms. His sleeveless top clung in all the wrong places and made him look like a stick insect wearing a sleeping sack. Once he was clothed, he stood and surveyed his reflection with a look of distaste on his face.

"It was pretty hard finding anything too fancy... Plus, you are really skinny," Peta explained.

"At least they are colour coordinated... They will do. Luckily you didn't have much of a choice..." Phantom turned and threw Peta a look of malice. "Else I'd be wearing a dress."

Peta glared at him, his greyish skin reddening slightly. "It's not a dress! It's a robe!" he hissed angrily, folding his arms and scowling at Phantom, who was sniggering loudly.

Phantom calmed down eventually and began to pace the room, deep in thought. Peta watched him, sensing the restless vengeance that boiled within.

"Will you follow my command?" Phantom asked suddenly. Peta nodded.

"I hate humans. They killed my family and tortured me. I am now the last of my kind and I will serve you loyally," he replied and bowed.

"What are you?" Phantom surveyed the man, interested.

"I am Peta. Your Advisor and loyal servant."

Phantom smirked. 'Servant, ehy?' he thought, realising that he could get used to this.


End file.
